


The Fallen Rose

by WhiteRosewithThorns



Category: The Cousins' War Series - Philippa Gregory, The White Queen (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Uncle/Niece Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 00:26:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10673880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteRosewithThorns/pseuds/WhiteRosewithThorns
Summary: Elizabeth of York did wed Richard after he won the final battle against Tudor. But to her anguish, he left her in the cold and continued to honor the memory of Lady Anne Neville. With her mother's help, she conceived an heir.Only it brought her to the doom.





	The Fallen Rose

In a rush, the Woodville Queen sprang to her daughter’s chamber. She had received the news and was agitated and bewildered. The King had named his nephew John de la Pole as heir. John was the son of the King’s sister Elizabeth Duchess of Suffolk; he was also married with legitimate sons of his own. What would it meant for Elizabeth?

After King Richard had won the war against Tudor, he wedded Elizabeth as expected. The uncle-niece marriage was permitted by the Church and papal dispensation was obtained. It helped united York affiliations and secured peace in England. They wedded in a private, small ceremony. The Woodville Queen had been waited for the invitation to her daughter’s coronation, but it never came.

After hearing that the King had named a new heir, the Woodville Queen sensed something wrong and went to see her daughter immediately. 

“Lizzie?” She approached her daughter, who dressed plainly and sat alone. “What is going on?” She looked around and asked, “Where’s Cecily? Isn’t she supposed to attend you?”

Elizabeth looked at her mother for a moment and then broke down.

“He never bedded me,” she wept. “After our wedding ceremony, he placed me here. He dismissed Cecily and appointed servants who report to him alone. He only gives me an allowance befitted a King’s bastard. I may be his wife, but I am more a prisoner!”

The Woodville Queen couldn’t believe her ears.

“He refused to see me,” Elizabeth continued. “You can still see R and A all over the castle. He still has her portrait hanging over him.”

“Whose portrait?”

“Lady Anne’s!” Elizabeth cried. “He acted as if she’s still his queen!”

The Woodville Queen took a deep breath and said, “That’s a small matter, Lizzie. You have to tolerate everything your husband does. He is King.”

“A king in love with a dead woman!”

“Lady Anne Neville had strong affiliation in the North,” the Woodville Queen explained to her daughter. “When the King favored you, he angered the North and lost some support. Perhaps he’s only doing this to regain the support from the North.”

“What are you saying, mother?” Elizabeth demanded. “That’s ridiculous! Are you saying that perhaps he was also playing a charade when he favored me? Just to have all York affiliations on his side to defeat Tudor?”

“Elizabeth!” The Woodville Queen scolded. “It’s not the time to argue! You must think and act to beget an heir. Unless he bed you, you can be put aside any time.”

“How?”

The Woodville Queen lowered her voice. “You don’t need to do anything. Go to his bedchamber tonight. He will have you, but remember one thing - do not say his name.” 

Elizabeth studied her mother’s face and nodded. The Woodville Queen hugged her daughter. “You will be with child and give him a heir. It will secure your place as Queen of England.”

+++

In a light silk nightgown, she went to the King's bedchamber as her mother instructed. Her heart was full of agitation, despite she reminded herself repeatedly that she's his wife and had every right to be there. His face did not express any emotion when he saw her. He went directly to her and ripped her nightgown apart, leaving her body exposed. Before Elizabeth could react, he threw her onto his four poster bed and removed his shirt. Breathing heavily, Elizabeth bent her body as he took her nipple in between his lips and pulled while pinching her other one.

_Remember one thing...do not say his name..._

Elizabeth bit her lips to prevent herself from crying out his name. She groaned in pain when he thrust into her. Her nails dug into his back as he pulled her folds wider apart to penetrate deeper. Shaking, she leaned up and gave him a kiss, hoping to calm him down. It did; and the copulation became slower and gentler. She could breath easier now. Her hands were stroking his back while his body moved against hers. 

Finally, this was what she had waited for all along.

To be held and loved by him.

To have her womb filled with his seeds.

He rolled onto his back and had her straddling him. Elizabeth began to enjoy this. She bent her body backwards, feeling his hands on her torso. 

"Richard..." She moaned.

Suddenly his hands stopped moving.

Elizabeth realized what she had done. She looked at him, only to see his cold eyes.

With his strong arms from years of martial arts training, he slapped her sharply across the face. He hit her so hard that she fell off the bed. Covering her swollen cheek, Elizabeth remained on the ground. The King got off the bed and dressed himself. He walked out of the chamber without looking back.

+++

The King did not summon her or visited her; nor did he had any word with her. Elizabeth continued her days as before. She did notice that she missed a course. She was with child, but that was all she needed. She wrote her mother and gave her the good news. _Everything will be good for us_ , she wrote. _For I am now carrying the King's child. After I give birth to this child - son or daughter - he will have to crown me and make my child the heir to the throne. This child's vein will flow the blood of York: my father's, grandmother Duchess Cecily's, Richard's, and mine._

She did inform the King of her pregnancy, but to her disappointment, he never wrote back or visited. He did send more servants but also put her under stricter watch. 

After much waiting, the day of her confinement arrived.

Clutching onto the birthing chair, she cried and screamed. Her mother wasn't there; neither were her sisters. She only had two midwives attending her. Finally, she heard a cry.

"What is it?" She asked.

The midwives were rather frightened after they cleaned up the infant. Quickly, they crossed themselves and said a prayer.

"Is my child living?" Elizabeth asked.

The midwives did not respond.

"Let me see him!" She demanded despite her weakness.

Reluctantly, the midwife placed the infant into her arms. Pushing away the blanket, Elizabeth was horrified after she saw her child's face.

"No..." She was so shaken that she nearly dropped the child.

When Richard came to see her, he accused her chillingly, "What have you done?"

"This is your son," Elizabeth replied, tried to be as calm as possible.

"No, this child is not mine," Richard said.

"Yes, it is!" Elizabeth raised her voice. "It is your seed of hatred for me and my mother. You never loved me! You lied to me and tricked me into loving you. You only married me to defeat Tudor. Your heart remained on that Lady Anne. Your neglect and my desperation for your love gave us this child. He is the York heir."

"You are mad," Richard said. "You're a witch."

"No, Richard."

"I will speak to you when you are well."

+++

Elizabeth remained confined in her quarters, where she was informed that her mother sought sanctuary again and her half-brother Richard was under arrest. Many other individuals affiliated with the Woodvilles were taken too.

We have lost, Elizabeth thought. We have fallen.

She looked at her child again and studied his horrific deformed features. She recalled the last conversation she had with her mother.

Had she not cried out his name, would it turn out differently?

No, she reminisced back further.

Her mother's curse - the one she and her mother put on the murderers of her two brothers, Edward and Richard. The male line of her brother's murderer will die out. Initially she thought the curse had done its cause after Henry Tudor was slain the battle. But now, it seemed that Richard may have a hand in her brothers' death as well, even though he swore that he didn't. No one would know the truth. But before her, the child she gave birth to, seemed like the hard evidence of Richard's deeds in her brothers' death.

The child began to cry.

Elizabeth picked him up and placed him against her breast to nurse him. What would life be for him? After she finished nursing him, she placed him back into his crib. She adjusted his blanket and looked away. Her hand pressed the fabric over his face. She remained as thus until she knew that he is no longer moving.

Her face was still; tears fell from her eyes.

She didn't even realize that her actions were witnessed by Richard's spies.

When the guards came to arrest her, she was still by the crib, holding the blanket over her child's face.

+++

Elizabeth was taken to the Tower. She was not treated badly, but she knew sooner or later she would meet her end. There were uprisings to overthrow Richard and to put Elizabeth on the throne as queen regnant and re-legitimize her status. Her scheming mother had secretly formed allies, but her cause would come to a lost. The uprisings were suppressed and the Woodville Queen died bitterly in the sanctuary.

Richard drafted the death warrant for Elizabeth on the charges of treason and witchcraft. The warrant sat on his desk for days until he finalized signed it and left it there.

The next day, Elizabeth was informed that she is sentenced to death and her marriage to the King has been annulled. She did not shed a tear and only requested to die in a private execution. Three days later, she was beheaded.

+++

In his study, Richard stared at a fallen white rose.

He finally understood why his brother Edward executed George.

He would marry again, but until then, the castle would continue to keep the shrine of Lady Anne - the only woman he had truly loved and die from grief, possibly from the curses of the Woodville Queen.


End file.
